Vase

Emile Decoeur

ca. 1920 · Glazed stoneware · Modern and Contemporary Art

Decoeur, one of the most talented, sophisticated, and well-known French Art Deco studio potters, was thoroughly versed in the materials and techniques of his medium. He was among the first to reject the perceived aesthetic excesses of the Art Nouveau style for the purity and challenge presented by the simplicity of traditional Chinese-influenced shapes and glazes. The classic baluster form of this vase shows off his rich, subtly complex glaze. Decoeur’s emphasis on the materials themselves as the vehicle of artistry and meaning parallels the development of nonfigurative art in the early twentieth century.

Artist

Emile Decoeur

Date

ca. 1920

Medium

Glazed stoneware

Culture

French (Fontenay-aux-Roses)

Department

Modern and Contemporary Art

Credit line

Purchase, Edward C. Moore Jr. Gift, 1922